1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer systems and software. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for suppressing e-mail security artifacts.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some e-mail security products add bogus addresses to the address book used by e-mail clients (generally referred to as e-mail security artifacts). These bogus addresses are also known as “honeypot addresses.” The honeypot addresses masquerade as actual e-mail addresses in a user's address book, but are actually fictitious addresses insofar as they relate to the user's actual contacts. Normally, a user does not use the honeypot address to send any e-mail. However, malicious software accessing a user's address book may not distinguish between actual addresses and the honeypot address. If malicious software enumerates a user's address book to send e-mails, the malicious software may end up sending e-mails to the honeypot addresses. The e-mail security products monitor these honeypot addresses and can thus detect the presence of the malicious software on the user's computer. The e-mail security products are then capable of taking further action to affect deletion of the malicious software.
The addition of honeypot addresses to a user's address book can have various unintended negative effects on the user. For example, the e-mail security products may add the honeypot addresses to the user's address book without the user's knowledge. When the user accesses his or her address book, the honeypot addresses may cause confusion over what they are and why they are in the address book. In some cases, a user may accidentally send e-mails to the honeypot addresses, causing false positive detections by the e-mail security product. Even for savvy users, the honeypot addresses clutter the address book. A user may be required to manually filter out the honeypot addresses when viewing the address book, thus impeding productivity. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a method and apparatus for suppressing e-mail security artifacts.